


Three Christmas Celebrations

by flaggermousse



Series: Picking up the Pieces [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (several of them in the background and not so much in focus), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child Neglect, Christmas, Established Relationship, First War with Voldemort, Gen, Post-First War with Voldemort, Raising Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28057161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flaggermousse/pseuds/flaggermousse
Summary: Harry Potter spent his first three Christmas celebrations in three different homes.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Petunia Evans Dursley/Vernon Dursley, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Picking up the Pieces [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972801
Comments: 12
Kudos: 169





	Three Christmas Celebrations

## 1980

Harry’s first Christmas was a brief respite in a devastating war. At barely five months old, he knew nothing of this. He woke early that Christmas morning. Lily got out of bed to get his bottle, but James didn’t turn over and try to steal an hour more of sleep as he so often did. Instead, the little family ended up sitting on the floor of the living room, opening presents while the sun rose.

Although Lily and James got their share of gifts, most of the presents were for Harry. New clothes, stuffed animals, children’s books and various toys had found their way underneath the Christmas tree. Muggle and wizarding decorations stood side by side; the only clear difference was how some of them moved around on the tables. Harry hadn’t quite mastered the art of crawling yet, and so the decorations were relatively safe from grabby little hands. The cottage was warm and bright, with a fire in the hearth and candles in the windows, and outside the snow covered Godric’s Hollow in a soft, white blanket.

There were people missing around the table that Christmas dinner. Fleamont and Euphemia had passed on without having the chance to meet their grandchild. Still, it was far from a quiet evening, it never was with a small child around. From the radio, the tunes of WWN’s Christmas special filled the house. They had almost finished dinner when the songs ended, and a news spot informed them of the attack on a family at the outskirts of Oxford. James quickly turned it off.

They filled the silence with their own songs as they cleaned the table, and sat down to read some Christmas stories. Harry spent most of the story time attempting to reach and eat the pages of the book Lily was reading. When they turned the radio back on after a while, the music was back and the grown-ups ended up dancing through the living room. In the end Harry fell asleep in his chair, warm and full. They carried him to bed and kissed him goodnight.

It was to be his first and only Christmas with his parents.

* * *

## 1981

Harry’s second Christmas was quite different from the first. He woke on his mattress to sounds coming from downstairs, and stumbled out the door. It wasn’t really a bedroom he slept in, more like a place filled with things that didn’t fit anywhere else in a picture-perfect home of 4 Privet Drive. An exercise bike and some garden chairs were among the things that shared his room.

The baby gate prevented him from continuing down the stairs, so he ended up standing there crying until Petunia eventually came to get him, bringing him to the living room where the rest of the family had already begun their Christmas morning. The house smelled of soap, and everything was perfectly in order; all decorations matching in stylish white and gold.

Perhaps it was a good thing Harry was one of the many toddlers that preferred to play with wrapping paper rather than presents, because his second Christmas didn’t bring much else. Petunia had begun planning and buying Dudley’s Christmas presents not long after his birthday presents were opened in June. All of them were lovingly wrapped in bright Christmas-colours, filling the space under the Christmas tree and spilling out onto the rest of the floor.

When Harry had arrived at their doorstep the night after Halloween, it threw a wrench in all of Petunia’s carefully laid plans. This constant, living reminder of the freakish world that took her sister did not belong in her home. Still, he was only a child, and her nephew … and what would the neighbours think if they knew? In the end, she had wrapped up a small train and some other toys Dudley had abandoned when he gotten bigger, better versions that June, along with some of her son’s old clothes.

Where Petunia was stiff and uncomfortable, Vernon mostly ignored Harry. He would have preferred the child to stay silent and out of sight instead of ‘ruining their celebration’ with his very presence. Dudley was mostly focused on his toys.

Throughout the day, there was a feeling of something being … wrong. No one really raised their voices, but the Christmas spirit seemed to be dampened somehow. They all sat down to eat, and Vernon complimented Petunia for her Christmas dinner. Dudley had several helpings, cut into small pieces. After dinner the grownups sat down and watched a Christmas movie while the children played, before they put them back to bed.

Harry struggled to fall asleep. There hadn’t been many lullabies or fairy tales in this new house. The place didn’t feel like home to him, and the people didn’t feel like family. He hadn’t seen his mom, dad or any of his uncles for a long time. Not even nice old Batha.

Harry wondered where they were, and when they would come back for him.

* * *

## 1982

When Harry woke the morning of his third Christmas, it was quiet in the little cottage. The sun shone through the window, but no one came to wake him. When he left his bedroom and snuck over to the room where his godparents slept, it was empty. There was no gate keeping him from walking downstairs, so he continued his search.

He found both Sirius and Remus asleep on the sofa in the living room, amidst Christmas decorations and wrapping paper. Despite a very late night, they hadn’t managed to finish it all. The two of them had never planned to have kids of their own, quite content to just be honorary uncles. Now it had been about four months since Harry came to live with them, and they were still working things out. They had gotten the hang on making somewhat healthy meals, changing nappies, and handling tantrums. Good sleeping routines for two-year olds were still a work in progress, and the cottage was in a nearly constant state of chaos.

But they tried.

Harry snuck up to Sirius and nudged him awake. Sirius blinked at him, and in a slight panic to hide some of the unwrapped presents under the sofa, he accidently shoved Remus onto the floor. After that rather rude awakening, Remus suggested that they’d just get on with the Christmas presents. No use wrapping the rest when the paper would be ripped off less than five minutes later.

Over the course of the morning, the room became even messier than before, with wrapping paper strewn everywhere. Some of the gifts moved by themselves, and snuck off into corners and under chairs. Harry got many times more present than the year before, but even better was how they all spent the morning together. They made warm chocolate and ate sweets rather than breakfast.

In the end, they had to clean up both the room and themselves. They were having Christmas dinner with Remus’ parents, and had to look at least somewhat presentable. Hope and Lyall had quickly fallen into their roles as honorary grandparents, doing their best to make the new addition to their small family feel welcome. Harry had grown quite fond of them; one of their living room walls was quickly turning into a place of honour for several of the drawings he had made.

Dinner was cosy, but after a while, Harry started getting bored. They let him leave the table and sit and play with some of the new toys instead. The grown-ups talked and drank coffee, but they didn’t ignore him. When he wanted to show them something he’d made with the new crayons, they paid attention, and when he needed help with the new puzzle, Lyall sat down on the floor and assisted him. It got late that evening, and Harry was already half asleep when his godparents carried him back, and put him to bed. They forgot to brush his teeth after all the sweets, but he got a lullaby before they said goodnight.

Harry yawned. The messy cottage felt more like a home than the clean and orderly house in Privet Drive ever had. Harry’s room wasn’t just a place to store things; it was _his_ place, with red and golden lions on the bedclothes, and toys he could play with without anyone snatching them away. The grown-ups listened to him when he told them about things he’d seen, and didn’t yell or ignore him if he needed help with something. He had nearly everything he wanted.

Only his mom and dad were missing.

Sirius and Remus had explained that they were gone, and couldn’t come back. Harry didn’t quite understand why. He had a hope they’d show up out of the blue one day, like Sirius had done back at Privet Drive. That they’d return and take him home with them.

So far, it hadn’t happened.

But he liked this place as well. Harry couldn’t quite remember what the home he’d had with his mom and dad had looked like, but this place had nearly the same feeling. He felt welcome there. They wanted him. 

Harry rolled over, clutching his new stuffed dragon, and fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> This will be the first Christmas with my 6-month old nephew, so I got ideas.
> 
> This is short, but turned out to be a bit of a struggle. I feel most comfertable using third person limited POV, and it just wasn’t working here, so here I am trying my hand at third person omniscient. It also messes a little bit with the order of this series, since both 1980's and 1981's Christmas takes place takes place before [The Trial](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27031150/chapters/65991517), and 1982's Christmas takes place after [A New Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22440163). Oh well, probably just me who's a bit of a stickler for organisation. Merry Christmas, everyone.


End file.
